Hmmm.... Piper nigrum? The leaves don't seem quite right... If it's not grown for its flowers, is it grown for it's fruits? Or for it's leaves?
Phew!!! Thanks Lorax for having a go. But no, it is not Piper nigrum. Nor is it grown for the fruits. It is just an unusual/ uncommon shrub, that in the U.K colours well in the autumn/fall. It is a botanical oddity!
I'm not seeing enough of the leaf or other indicators but that flower looks like Triadica sebifera (Tallowtree).
Gosh, so VERY close. I didn't recognise the name Triadica sebifera... thank goodness for www.! http://images.google.com/images?q=t...1I7SUNA_en-GB&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi So here is a pic of the leaves on the mystery plant. My dilemma is .....that Triadica in some books and on www sites is also known as Sapium sebiferum.The leaves and flowers are clearly different from my plant. http://images.google.com/images?q=s...1I7SUNA_en-GB&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi You were so close. Our plant is Sapium. But which one?
Sapium japonicum it is. Common name Japanese tallow tree. Congratulations mywan and saltcedar. Team effort!
Update! With many thanks to Daniel and his explanation Apparently the correct name is now Neoshirakia japonica. See Botany Photo of the Day for 22nd February 2011. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/
Does Neoshirakia apply to other members of the genus Sapium or has this plant been given it's own genus?
From what I was able to determine from Mabberley, it seems like Sapium has been broken up, reducing its numbers from ~125 to ~25. 5 or 6 genera have been resurrected / created to take in those ~100 or so. Generic limits are being redefined in Euphorbiaceae quite a bit right now, and, to make matters more interesting, there are also seems to be some investigations as to whether the family should be split up.
